Glargine insulin is a type of long-lasting insulin that has been approved by the FDA for use in humans. It is also used successfully to regulate blood sugar levels in diabetic cats. It can be difficult to regulate your diabetic cat's blood sugar levels, but glargine insulin may be more effective than other types of insulin because it lasts longer inside the cat's body. Learn more about the use of glargine insulin in cats.
What Glargine Insulin Is and How It's Different from Regular Insulin
Glargine insulin is one of the two types of insulin designed to treat diabetes in humans. The other type is a fast-acting insulin designed to be taken right before meals. Glarine insulin is a slow-acting, long-lasting insulin designed to be taken once a day, to keep blood sugar levels stable throughout the day. Glargine insulin is also used to treat diabetes in cats, since other types of insulin used to treat feline diabetes often don't last long enough inside the cat's body.
Current research suggests that glargine insulin is very useful in the treatment of diabetic cats. It can make regulating your diabetic cat's blood sugar much easier. Cats who are still in the initial stages of diabetes may even experience complete remission and return to a non-diabetic status with just a few weeks of glargine insulin treatments. Cats who have been diabetic for some time, however, are unlikely to experience remission even with glargine insulin treatment.
What You Should Know About Glargine Insulin for Cats
You will probably need to give your cat glargine insulin twice a day, on the same schedule as you would any other type of insulin. Because glargine insulin is long-lasting, it can continue to work inside your cat's body throughout the day, where other types of insulin might fall short after a few hours.
Glargine insulin, unlike other types of insulin, spoils after one month if it's not kept refrigerated. Glargine injector pens might seem useful, but they can't be refrigerated. The 10 ml bottle is most useful for those seeking to treat cat diabetes, and it can be kept refrigerated for up to six months.
Glargine insulin should never be diluted. This makes it ineffective.
Using Glargine Insulin to Treat Your Cat's Diabetes
If your cat's condition is stable, your vet will show you how to administer glargine insulin and send you and your cat home. Your cat will need weekly vet appointments for the first four weeks of treatment, so that your vet can monitor how well the insulin is working. Your cat may also need to be hospitalized for the first few days of treatment, just to make sure the medication is working well and keeping his blood sugar levels stable (dangerous drops in blood sugar can occur quickly in cats, so hospitalizing your cat at this time is best way to keep him safe).
It usually takes about ten days to regulate blood sugar with glargine insulin; if your cat goes into remission, this will probably happen during the first month of treatment.